Award Data

Ethylene is a growth hormone for fruits and vegetables that is generated by the plants themselves; that is, it acts as a self-ripening agent. Hence, the removal of ethylene gas can play a central role in maintaining the freshness of these products. Whereas the temperature and the levels of oxygen and carbon dioxide gases are also important system variables that demand a significant economic invest ...

A. Water must be removed from biodegradable hydraulic fluids as they react with water and degrade insitu. B. Biodegradable hydraulic fluids for farm equipment provide a significant improvement over traditional petroleum based fluids due to decreased pollution. Increase the use and value of biodegradable hydraulic fluids by development of a membrane-based dewatering system.

The use of biodiesel offers significant advantages with regards to the reduction of total harmful engine emissions with the exception of NOx. Biodiesel is a renewable resource and soybean oil is known to be economically viable as a biodiesel fuel. Recent studies from the Environmental Protection Agency have shown that soybean oil alone or blended with #2 diesel fuel results in a significant decrea ...

Small engines such as those found in All Terrain Vehciles are very polluting and are a major source of air pollution in the US. This project will build on Phase I research by building functional prototypes that can be tested in terms of emissions reduction, performance, and cost.

The proposed foveation-based video and infra-red broad-spectrum streaming technology will provide a novel all-time all-weather surveillance capability. This highly scalable technology will allow low cost object tracking and searching capabilities in compressed domain. The technology will be deployable over IP and wireless networks allowing wide coverage based on broad spectrum sensors.

The rate of invasion of harmful organisms into the USA is now higher than ever before. The current concern over the potential for species introductions to be used strategically as instruments of bio-terrorism or bio-warfare appears to be well founded. Growth in the volume and complexity of international trade, combined with the liberalization of regulatory regimes to encourage trade, has at once i ...

During warfare, strikes made with surgical precision by Special Operations Forces reduce collateral damage and loss of life among non-combatants and have become the expectation of our war-fighters. Such strikes, however, require the ability to survey the target area in a timely fashion and guide munitions accurately. High altitude photographs taken by satellites and orbiting aircraft often lack ...

A nitrate biosensor based on the enzyme nitrate reductase will be formulated for agricultural applications. The nitrate biosensor will be used to analyze nitrate standards for calibration and nitrate content of real world samples extracted from plants and soils. The resulting data will demonstrate the feasibility of constructing a prototype nitrate biosensor for application in agriculture in Phase ...

There are many environmental problems associated with the disposal of large quantities of organic wastes, including animal wastes, food and garden wastes, and industrial wastes. More than 50% of organic wastes produced in the USA are currently disposed into landfills at very considerable economic and environmental costs. There are many constraints to utilizing these organic wastes on agricultural ...

We propose to prove the feasibility of a high speed non ionizing time domain terahertz (THz) measurement system to replace nuclear gauges. Nuclear source gauges (such as beta and gamma) are used in industrial process monitoring and control, often to measure thickness or mass in paper, plastics, rubber, and food stuffs in manufacturing and packaging. A single system based on low power non-ionizing ...